Although the Gender Equality Education Act (性別平等教育法) was implemented 10 years ago, gender rights advocacy groups yesterday said they were disappointed at the government’s enforcement of the law, as there has been no progress in gender equality education.
With advocates wearing masks depicting President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), Premier Jiang Yi-huah (江宜樺) and Minister of Education Chiang Wei-ling (蔣偉寧) — each bearing the titles “king of empty slogans,” “king of intransparency” and “king of incapability” respectively — rights advocacy groups during a press conference in Taipei accused the government of not making any progress in promoting gender equality education in schools.
“If we compare the current situation in gender equality education at schools with five years ago, we can see that, instead of making progress, things are moving backward,” Taiwan Gender Equality Education Association president Wang Li-ching (王儷靜) said. “For one thing, proper materials for education are still scarce, not every school at every level of education has such materials.”
“More shockingly, the Ministry of Education hires people who are against same-sex marriage or homosexuality as members of its Gender Equity Education Committee,” Wang added.
Association secretary-general Lin Yi-chia (林以加) also voiced her worries that conservative groups with religious backgrounds are influencing the realm of education.
She said that in 2011, on the eve of releasing a set of gender education materials written by several gender rights advocacy groups and approved by the ministry, “the ministry halted the plan, and released the materials only after revision due to pressure by religious groups.”
Cheng Chih-wei (鄭智偉), director of social works at the Taiwan Tongzhi Hotline Association, said that despite having gender equality education in the nation’s curriculum, in practice the subject is often not taught.
“The problem is that elementary-school teachers may tell students that they will skip the lessons and leave it to junior-high school, then junior-high school teachers skip it saying that it will be taught at high school,” Cheng said. “So the lessons are repeatedly postponed, and in the end, students never get to learn the lessons though it may be in the curriculum or in the textbooks.”
The first global hotel Keys Selection by the Michelin Guide includes four hotels in Taiwan, Michelin announced yesterday. All four received the “Michelin One Key,” indicating guests are to experience a “very special stay” at any of the locations as the establishments are “a true gem with personality. Service always goes the extra mile, and the hotel provides much more than others in its price range.” Of the four hotels, three are located in Taipei and one in Taichung. In Taipei, the One Key accolades were awarded to the Capella Taipei, Kimpton Da An Taipei and Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Capella Taipei was described by
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
INDUSTRY: Beijing’s latest export measures go beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related tech, an academic said Taiwanese industries could face significant disruption from China’s newly tightened export controls on rare earth elements, as much of Taiwan’s supply indirectly depends on Chinese materials processed in Japan, a local expert said yesterday. Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈), director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, said that China’s latest export measures go far beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related technologies. With Japan and Southeast Asian countries among those expected to be hit, Taiwan could feel the impact through its reliance on Japanese-made semi-finished products and
RSS